Viagra eases sexual arousal disorder in some women: helps resolve physiologic problems. (Causal Factors Key).

MONTREAL -- Among women with sexual dysfunction, those with sexual arousal disorder appear to be the most likely candidates for treatment with Viagra, results of a study of 200 women suggest.

Still, not all women with sexual arousal disorder will get results with the drug, Laura Berman, Ph.D., the study's principal author, said at the 10th World Congress of the International Society for Sexual and Impotence Research.

"The tricky part for the physician is not necessarily going to be identifying the diagnosis but identifying the causal factors and then delineating whether the causes for her sexual arousal disorder are emotional, relational, medical, or some combination, because that will be the difference as to whether Viagra may or may not resolve it," said Dr. Berman of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is defined as a persistent and pervasive lack of lubrication and genital sensation, which causes the patient distress. "These women complain of dryness and numbness, a lack of sensation in their genital area, and a general sense of lack of arousal or feeling engorged, swollen, and aroused," she said in an interview.

But Viagra (sildenafil) is likely to solve these problems only if their root cause is physiologic and not psychosexual, Dr. Berman said.

"If the patient's symptoms have been lifelong, if they're situational, meaning she doesn't have them when she's on vacation ... or if they don't exist with self-stimulation, if she has a history of abuse or sexual trauma, if she has a psychiatric history, if she's experiencing depression or stress, if her partner has sexual dysfunction, or if she has relationship issues, those are all signs that she should have further psychosexual evaluation, and that Viagra may not resolve it," she explained.

In a study funded by Pfizer Inc., which markets Viagra, 202 postmenopausal or posthysterectomy patients with FSAD were randomized to either a flexible dose of sildenafil (25-100 mg/day) or placebo. Those on Viagra experienced significantly better genital sensation during intercourse or stimulation and sexual ...